OOC:
Dice Pool: Intelligence (3) + Study (2)
Action: Extended (12 successes; each roll represents 1 hour of research)
You can only roll a maximum of 5 times to achieve 12 successes. If you don't achieve it by then, the remaining parts of the book prove too difficult for you to understand.
You must let me know when you want to study for an hour throughout the game.
[Private to Minerva:
1) The book is about Occult and Black Magic
2) You remember the book stated that ghosts linger in the physical world because something anchors them there preventing them from continuing on to
the spirit realm. Every ghost has at least one anchor rooting it to
the physical world. In most cases, an anchor is a physical place or object that held great emotional significance to the ghost during its mortal existence
3) You learned from the book that there are three kinds of ghosts:
Apparitions, Poltergeists, Deceivers and Skinriders
Apparitions are the most common form of spirit, and many cases they don’t interact with mortals at all, simply going through the motions of their previous existence. The show themselves in the physical world.
Poltergeists are “noisy ghosts,” spirits that make their presence known by causing inexplicable sounds (footsteps, slamming doors) and by moving objects, sometimes violently. Poltergeists cannot be seen.
Deceivers are powerful, sentient spirits capable of terrifying and even injuring mortals by tricking them with potent illusions. Deceivers do not present themselves in dreams, only in the physical world.
Skinriders are rare and very powerful and can possess the bodies of living people. These spirits are nearly always malevolent (some say demonic). They often present themselves in dreams and in the physical world to inflict suffering on victims.]
After an hour of studying, the following information catches your attention:
[Private to Minerva: Skinriders:
]
[Private to Minerva: "SkinRiders are powerful Ghosts that often stay dormant until they are awoken. A common characteristic of Skinriders is their need to feed on the psychic energy of children and their imaginations. Those consumed by the Skinriders will become ghosts themselves, taking on physical symptoms of this transformation. Destroying a Skinrider's anchor will stop the transformation process, and might reverse it, depending on the Ghost's power."]
You thumb through the pages to read more, but then come upon the following:
ooc: You must roll again to continue
13:42, Sun 21 Dec 2014: Narrator, on behalf of Minerva, rolled 2 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((5,2,10(+6),2,9,4,1,4)).
OOC: 3/5 attempts to learn the book used. You need 2 more success to understand its entirety.
Dramatic success rolled:
[Private to Minerva: You read more and realize the book contains recipes for summoning and eliminating ghosts. Each recipe contains a series of rituals that need to be followed precisely, and preferably under the instruction of someone with experience in black occult magic. All the recipes require living sacrifices of some kind: insects, animals, and even in one case, a human.
The warnings seem to follow each recipe, scribbled in red ink or blood over the text. Whoever wrote in the book seems to have written specific instructions not to follow the recipes of the book. Reading it alone makes you feel odd. Oddly interested in doing bad things.
You page through more as a headache begins to build in your head. The text is difficult to read.
The final chapter of the book has its own table of contents:
"DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!" is written in red ink across the page, followed by the following:
I. Dealing with Skinriders, eliminating them
II. Consequences of Dark Rituals And Black Magic
]
OOC: Finishing the book costs 2 more successes AND 2 Morality.
The book contains exactly three recipes and you notice that it is a book dedicated almost exclusively to [Private to Minerva: dealing with Skinrider Ghosts].
[Private to Minerva:
I. Blood Ritual - Protection And Reversing Skinrider Transformation Effects
II. Séances - Exiling Skinriders from Their Haunting Locations and Anchors
III. Shamanism - Contending with Skirnrider Followers and Cooptees.
]
[Private to Minerva: I. Blood Ritual - Protection And Reversing Skinrider Transformation Effects
The presence of a Skinrider in a given domain will cause those within a defined radius to transform physically, ceding their energy to the Skinrider. The time required for full transformation depends on the age and strength of the Skinrider. The following recipe reverses Skinrider transformation and protects one individual from future Skinrider transformational affects.]
[Private to Minerva: II. Séances - Exiling Skinriders from Their Haunting Locations and Anchors
]
OOC: (Intelligence + Occult) during ritual, 2 successes needed. Failure will require finding additional ingredients.
3 - Participants Willing to Sacrifice 1 Morality Each
7 - Lit Candles
1 - Stolen Wedding Ring
- Participants form a circle and light candles in the center, [Private to Minerva: no further than 20 feet from the Skinrider haunting location or Anchor]
- Participants place the wedding ring in the center
- Participants hold hands and recite the following
"My spirit has dived into the infernal storm of evil
My soul is forever tormented
Take advantage of this jouvencal fluid
Deliver your soul from claws of ignorance
- Death is the only way to escape the misery of life
- Death is the only way to reach the supreme power"
[Private to Minerva: III. Shamanism - Contending with Skirnrider Followers and Cooptees
The following spell will reverse the supernatural powers given to Skinrider followers transforming them back to mortals]
OOC: (Intelligence + Occult) during ritual, 2 successes needed. Failure will require finding additional ingredients.
1 - Live Dog or Kitten
3 - Participants willing to sacrifice 1 morality
- Sharp objects
- Participants form a circle around the animal and stab it while reciting the following:
"Sentiments imprision and leave
Their victims without defence
Love is a poison which
Flourishes in the heart of the weak"